Is it worth appealing?

[RobGil]

I paid at a ticket machine using a debit card, but due to a fault or possibly vandalism no ticket was issued.

I explained the circumstances on the train and was able to show the correct amount had been paid using my banking app.

Penalty fare issued. Guard / inspector (not sure which) said I should have used the help point at the station instead of boarding the train.

 

[Deafdoggie]

If you could please upload (deleting any personal information) all the paperwork you were given.

Are you sure you've been charged for the ticket, and it's not just a pending charge will disappear shortly?

 

[Watershed]

If this was a Penalty Fare (rather than a report for prosecution or similar) then I would suggest an appeal on the basis of "compelling circumstances" may be warranted. But we do need to see the paperwork to be sure of how you should proceed.

 

[ikcdab]

As the previous post. You first need to make sure that that charge actually goes through on your account. If it does, then 100% you should appeal.

 

[Belperpete]

Was there any other ticket machine available, or was it the only one at the station where you boarded? If there was another ticket machine at the station, then it could be argued that you should have tried to buy a ticket from another machine, or from the ticket office if open. The requirement is that you must be able to present a ticket, not just appear to have paid for one. Otherwise someone could buy a ticket, and hand it to a friend, and then present the proof of purchase in order to travel. Or, as others have said, if the transaction failed, the charge could later-on be reversed.

However, if it was the only ticket machine available, and it was not working, and there was no open ticket office, then you should have been allowed to board the train and buy a ticket at the first suitable opportunity. Did the guard do anything to check if the machine was faulty, such as looking up its status on-line? If the machine had not been reported as faulty, and you did nothing to report it as faulty before boarding the train, then I could see why the guard might question your claim that the machine wasn't working.

 

[BongoStar]

I always take a photo of error messages or broken down machines. Has saved me a few penalties from cowboy parking firms and a penalty fare on GWR.

End of the day, the guard would have heard a thousand excuses why someone cannot present a ticket, and one of them is "machine wasn't working", so they are usually skeptical, but if you can show them proof of it right there, you are helping yourself as much as the guard.

Strictly speaking, you have boarded a train without possession of a valid ticket. Your case is no different from someone who has purchased a TOD online and doesn't collect it from TVM, and boards the train. The onus is on you to prove your case, not the TOC, so the more evidence you can gather, the better.

 

[Deafdoggie]

If the machine was working, but simply didn't print, it's very difficult to prove that, particularly, as is usually the case, the machine doesn't know it hasn't printed.

If a ticket machine charged you, you may not have sufficient funds to purchase again